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Man Ray

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L'Etoile de Mer (1928,Man Ray)

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friend-ship

moon rising

tibet burning

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be a hero

what we're seeing

Fascism is one word for what we're seeing

As FDR knew, it's actually capitalism without boundaries, and it's apolitical.


Article by: BONNIE BLODGETT

It's a well-known fact that as a young man Ronald Reagan supported Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.

An acquaintance of mine who happens to be a prominent politician and who knew Reagan personally says that Reagan later was "absolutely certain" that, had FDR lived to preside over postwar America, he would have "seen the light."

Reagan himself saw the light -- got his first glimmer, anyway (his full conversion to conservatism came later under the guidance of a hard-nosed labor negotiator) --while working for the Screen Actors Guild, an organization crawling with Commies. Most had joined the party to protest the fascism that had gripped Germany and was about to subjugate Europe.

Whether FDR would have flip-flopped remains an open question, but I doubt it. Roosevelt had a more nuanced understanding of economics than Reagan did. He knew that fascism is capitalism without boundaries, that both fascism and communism (with a small "c") are apolitical, and that economics trumps politics every time.

Born into wealth, FDR understood that Wall Street traders had a gambling mentality and that outwitting the feds was part of the game. In 1934, he set out to level the playing field. His Securities and Exchange Commission ushered in the longest stretch of financial stability in U.S. history.

Most Americans in the 1950s paid scant attention to any of this, thanks in part to the sense of security FDR had provided by ending the Depression and winning the war. To them Stalin was the new Hitler. After all, hadn't Stalin annexed the entire eastern bloc in a brazen, Nazi-style power grab?

Something else FDR understood, having fought with the Soviets and having sat beside their leader at Yalta, was that those countries were the spoils of a war that took 40 million Russian lives.

Fast-forward four decades. By the time Reagan imperiously commanded Gorbachev to "tear down that wall," the evil empire had already imploded. It was in its death throes. The U.S. president relished his opportunity to turn the Russian people's suffering into a live-action morality tale.

The longer the bread lines in Moscow, the more he mocked the austerity that such images displayed. To Reagan, the lesson could not have been simpler. Get out those credit cards, America, and turn up the thermostat. The Cold War's over and the good guys won.

The private sector saw an opportunity, too -- in the president's giddy enthusiasm for unfettered capitalism. On the home front, deregulation removed pesky governmental red tape and impediments to the consolidation of everything from banking to agriculture.

Americans for the most part enjoyed their spending spree. And why not? The stock market was booming. Banks were turning home ownership into a bet you never lose.

Few seemed alarmed by the S&L crisis, the tech bubble, Enron, Tyco et al. -- or even knew that President Bill Clinton, in a failed effort to soften Republican positions on other issues, repealed the Glass-Steagall Act and set the stage for the mortgage crisis by turning the financial sector into what Charles Ferguson, whose scorching critique of Wall Street, "Inside Job," won Best Documentary Film at last year's Oscars, calls "the predator elite."

Ferguson believes that a coalition of corporations and big banks has "captured and neutralized" elected officials. Campaign spending has soared by a factor of more than 300 since the late 1970s, and private-sector interests have outspent public-sector interests by "between 50 and 100 to one."

Former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley is also concerned. He spent $1.6 million to get elected in 1979. The seat Bradley held for 17 years cost his successor $65 million. And that was before super PACs. The winning candidate, a billionaire, financed his own victory.

Reckless spending at all levels of society caused the current recession, but if it weren't for Republican spin, bought and paid for by the predator elite, the average American would have long since figured out not just that housing prices don't always go up but how ill-advised were the Bush tax cuts, deregulation, and the leveraging of everything but Grandma.

They'd see that it wasn't socialism that brought Europe to the brink of bankruptcy but American-style capitalism -- real-estate deals and other high-risk ventures facilitated by something called the credit default swap that was all the more effective for its inscrutability.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is learning the hard way that inscrutability is fascism's ultimate weapon. His was the swing vote in the Citizens United case. He wrote the majority opinion granting corporations the same free-speech rights as people.

In the real world, that means unlimited spending on right-wing political causes and candidates. Kennedy insisted that along with such freedoms would come certain responsibilities: He required that all contributors identify themselves.

But economics trumps politics every time. Our democracy is now in its death throes. Enforcement has been deemed more trouble than it's worth. (bonnieblodgett.com)

mad men

boiling frogs

In the decade since the 9/11 attacks, Congress has been willing to do almost anything to ward off more terrorist strikes. It has given the government broad authority to hunt, hold and try suspected terrorists. Trouble is, the law is written so broadly that the government would have little difficulty applying it to virtually anyone.

The latest example is a provision in the annual defense authorization bill that would allow the U.S. military to detain anyone indefinitely without charges or trial — even U.S. citizens — if the president determines they're suspected of being terrorists or having aided terrorists.

One would hope no president would ever abuse that authority, but the Founders saw enough of a threat to protect against it constitutionally. The Fifth Amendment guarantees that "no person" can be "deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law." It is the bedrock protection Americans have always had against a rogue government. It's one of the rights that sets the U.S. apart from countries where the dictator decides what the law is. Why should it be so casually discarded? (read more)

theory

solving the mystery of wtc 7

Zero: an investigation into 9/11

mae west

Visage de Mae West

Salvador Dali 1934-35

An Andalusian Dog

how to be perfect

"How to be perfect" by Ron Padgett


get some sleep

eat an orange every morning

be friendly it will help make you happy

hope for everything...expect nothing

take care of things close to home first

straighten up your room before you save the world

then, save the world

be nice to people before they have the chance to behave badly

wear comfortable shoes

do not spend too much time with large groups of people

plan your day so you never have to rush

show your appreciation to people who do things for you

even if you have paid them...even if they do favors you don't want

after dinner wash the dishes

calm down

don't expect your children to love you so they can if they want to

don't be too self critical or too self congratulatory

don't think that progress exists...it doesn't

imagine what you would like to see happen

and then don't do anything to make it impossible

forgive your country every once in a while

if that is not possible...go to another one

if you feel tired...rest

don't be depressed about growing older

it will make you feel even older which is depressing

if you burn your finger put ice on it immediately

if you bang your finger with a hammer hold your hand in the air for twenty minutes

you'll be surprised by the curative powers of ice and gravity

do not inhale smoke...take a deep breath

do not smart off to a policeman

be good

be honest with yourself, diplomatic with others

do not go crazy a lot its a waste of time

drink plenty of water...when asked what you would like to drink say "water please"

take out the trash

love life

use exact change

when there's shooting in the street don't go near the window

(listen)

tell the truth

nnnyaaaa

There are only two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.

...Albert Einstein...

can you handle it?

guernica

"Guernica" by Pablo Picasso.

Guernica was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, Basque Country, by German and Italian warplanes at the behest of the Spanish Nationalist forces, on 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Republican government commissioned Picasso to create a large mural for the Spanish display at the Paris International Exposition at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris.

Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. On completion Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. This tour helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world's attention.

While living in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II, Picasso suffered harassment from the Gestapo. One officer allegedly asked him, upon seeing a photo of Guernica in his apartment, "Did you do that?" Picasso responded, "No, you did." (read more)

the power of art

dancing godzilla

go go godzilla

the hopes of men

Memorial Day

"The falling soldier"

Robert Capa 9/5/36.

musashi

girl robot

girl robot

ghost in the shell

kaleidoscope

click here for kaleidoscope

Mexicans Protest Ties Between Politics, Media - WSJ.com

Mexicans Protest Ties Between Politics, Media - WSJ.com:

 "MEXICO CITY—Thousands of students are joining a growing street-demonstration movement to protest Mexico's top two television networks, which they accuse of colluding to secure the leading presidential candidate's election this summer."

'via Blog this'

fastwalkers

Leaders Bicker as Europe’s Crisis Gains New Urgency - NYTimes.com

Leaders Bicker as Europe’s Crisis Gains New Urgency - NYTimes.com:

 "BERLIN — With Greece’s membership in the euro zone teetering, fears of bank insolvency rising and Europe’s leaders bickering about what to do, the euro crisis is once again intensifying and threatening to undermine fragile growth globally."

'via Blog this'

Che

Ernesto "Che" Guevara (June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.

As a young medical student, Guevara traveled throughout Latin America and was radically transformed by the endemic poverty and alienation he witnessed. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to conclude that the region's ingrained economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of capitalism, monopolism, neocolonialism, and imperialism, with the only remedy being world revolution. This belief prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara's political ideology. Later, while living in Mexico City, he met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their 26th of July Movement, and sailed to Cuba aboard the yacht, Granma, with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command, and played a pivotal role in the victorious two-year guerrilla campaign that deposed the Batista regime.

Following the Cuban Revolution, Guevara performed a number of key roles in the new government. These included reviewing the appeals and firing squads for those convicted as war criminals during the revolutionary tribunals, instituting agrarian land reform as minister of industries, helping spearhead a successful nationwide literacy campaign, serving as both national bank president and instructional director for Cuba’s armed forces, and traversing the globe as a diplomat on behalf of Cuban socialism. Such positions also allowed him to play a central role in training the militia forces who repelled the Bay of Pigs Invasion and bringing the Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles to Cuba which precipitated the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Additionally, he was a prolific writer and diarist, composing a seminal manual on guerrilla warfare, along with a best-selling memoir about his youthful motorcycle journey across South America. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia, where he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and executed.

Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure, polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. As a result of his perceived martyrdom, poetic invocations for class struggle, and desire to create the consciousness of a "new man" driven by moral rather than material incentives; he has evolved into a quintessential icon of various leftist-inspired movements. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled Guerrillero Heroico , was cited by the Maryland Institute College of Art as "the most famous photograph in the world". (read more)

"Guerrillero Heroico"
Che Guevara at the La Coubre memorial service.
Taken by Alberto Korda on March 5, 1960.

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jimi